As the U.S. confronts rising COVID-19 cases fueled by the arrival of the omicron variant, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decreased the recommended amount of time health care workers spend in isolation after being infected with COVID-19.
In new guidance issued Thursday, officials decreased the isolation time for asymptomatic health care workers who test positive for COVID-19 to seven days after they’ve tested negative, “and that isolation time can be cut further if there are staffing shortages.”
Further, officials said health care workers who have been fully vaccinated and gotten booster shots no longer need to quarantine at home after high-risk exposures to the virus.
In a statement released Thursday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the moves were aimed at helping the health care community ahead of an anticipated surge in cases, while also reflecting what health officials know about the viral infection as it relates to vaccination and booster doses.
“Our goal is to keep healthcare personnel and patients safe, and to address and prevent undue burden on our healthcare facilities,” Walensky said. “Our priority, remains prevention—and I strongly encourage all healthcare personnel to get vaccinated and boosted.”
>> Related: Omicron now dominant US coronavirus strain, CDC says
Reports of COVID-19 infections have been rising in recent days as the omicron variant has overtaken the delta variant as the most prevalent nationwide. Omicron was first detected in the U.S. on Dec. 1 and has since been linked to more than 73% of COVID-19 infections across the U.S., according to the latest available data from the CDC.
As of Thursday, nearly 73% of the U.S. population – 241.5 million people – has gotten at least one dose of any of the available COVID-19 vaccines, according to the CDC. Almost 62% of Americans, or 204.7 million people, have been fully vaccinated, while over 31% of those who have been fully vaccinated have gotten booster shots, CDC data shows.
Since the start of the pandemic, officials have reported 51.8 million cases of COVID-19 nationwide, resulting in over 815,000 deaths, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. Globally, more than 278.4 million cases have been reported, resulting in nearly 5.4 million deaths, according to the university.
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